Israeli settlement expansion reshapes northern West Bank geography

The Israeli authorities are carrying out a wide‑scale settlement program in the northern West Bank. According to the National Defense of Land and Resistance to Settlement office, plans include the creation or expansion of 18 settlements, notably Yahnit on Araba (Jenin), Ruach Ha’ayin on Deir Balut and Za‘a in Salfit, and a major upgrade of Sanur with 126 new housing units.

New road networks are being built to link settlements such as Humus, Shufa Yisrael and Shjait Yehuda, and to connect them to the Jordan Valley, effectively separating Palestinian towns and villages, especially between Jenin and Nablus. Projects also target Mount Ayal north of Nablus, establishing a new settlement hub and a series of bypass roads.

In the “Red Thread” project in the Sahl al‑Baqi‘a area east of Tuva, Israeli forces are demolishing irrigation infrastructure and confiscating more than 24,000 dunams—about a quarter of the valley’s farmland—affecting roughly 300 Palestinian farms. The Israeli finance minister has earmarked hundreds of millions of shekels to fund these settlement expansions and associated infrastructure, while right‑wing politicians are publicly calling for annexation of the West Bank.

The measures threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of Palestinian farmers, restrict movement, and aim to cement permanent Israeli presence in the region.